Nobody registers to challenge Netanyahu for Likud leadership

Party must now decide whether to bother holding formal leadership vote next month

Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on Sunday, January 10, 2016 (Alex Kolomoisky/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on Sunday, January 10, 2016 (Alex Kolomoisky/POOL)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will remain head of his Likud party after no challengers announced their candidacy for the party leadership primaries by Sunday’s deadline.

Subsequently, the Likud Elections Committee will decide whether or not to hold the February 23 vote, a formality in the absence of other candidates.

Likud lawmakers Oren Hazan and Avi Dichter mulled runs against Netanyahu in the primaries, but both declined to challenge him in the end.

On Sunday, Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes, the wife of former Likud MK Silvan Shalom, tweeted that she was considering challenging Netanyahu for the role. But fearing she might “accidentally win,” the outspoken Nir-Mozes, said, she ultimately decided not to run.

Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes (Photo credit: Flash90)
Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes (Flash90)

A senior Likud official was quoted by Ha’aretz as saying that while Netanyahu had “certainly secured his victory,” that could prove to be a double-edged sword by antagonizing political powerhouses such as Yisrael Katz and Gideon Sa’ar, who see themselves as potential party leaders.

In December 2015, the party’s powerful central committee voted to approve Netanyahu’s request to move up the leadership primaries to February, which the prime minister argued would stabilize the governing coalition and its razor-thin Knesset majority.

Minister of Interior Gideon Sa'ar at a press conference announcing he would resign from both the cabinet and the Knesset after the Jewish holidays in order to take a break of politics, September 17, 2014. (Photo credit: Flash90)
Gideon Sa’ar (Flash90)

Opponents had argued that bringing forward the primaries instead of holding them closer to the next general elections could stymie attempts by potential competitors to run against the prime minister.

A year ago, facing a shaky coalition, Netanyahu brought the leadership primaries forward; in that instance, the aim was to prevent rival Sa’ar from mounting a successful counterbid for the leadership. Sa’ar subsequently pulled out of the race.

Primaries, which are conducted by several Israeli political parties, enable party members — rather than internal committees — to elect a leader and the lists of candidates for general elections. In June, Netanyahu fought off a bid to have the power to choose candidates returned to the Likud Central Committee.

Raoul Wootliff and Sue Surkes contributed to this report.

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